2008-01-31 09:26:14European Parliament. I am currently in the European Parliament in Brussels, where I was the speaker at a Breakfast Meeting arranged by European Enterprise Institute. There, it was also announced formally that I have agreed to be a Senior Fellow at the Institute. The topic this morning was the publication "What Competition Has Done for Europe", by me. Very well attended, not least by Members of Parliament. And message well received.

Yesterday, we had another sign of the need for more support for free competition, this time in international trade. The EU banned beef from Brazil from the entire European market. The EU had demanded to choose which farms in Brazil that would be alloed to export to the EU. Why not let consumers make that choice?

Now off for a series of meetings before flying to Stockholm late afternoon.

2008-01-29 12:10:36Why Fiscal Policy Stimulus Will Not Work. I just came back from a conference with the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council. Roel Beetsma from the University of Amsterdam delivered a survey of research into discretionary fiscal policy. In sum, it concludes that fiscal policy stimulus is usually impossible but potentially also harmful, especially in the long run. Relevant in these days of stimulus hysteria.

2008-01-29 11:55:31State of the Union. Yesterday, President George W Bush delivered a forceful State of the Union speech. He is responsible for several policy mistakes and some bad appointments, but he is also a determined and executive President. To a large extent, he is the victim of bad PR rather than judged rationally. Many people throughout the world made up their minds about him a long time ago and stopped seeing his actions. In reality, President Bush has continued to act forcefully at home and abroad, with a number of positive results. This shows what limits public perception creates. But history will most likely judge him in a different way.

2008-01-28 16:33:12From Spain to the Adriatic. My book is now being featured and recommended by two distingusihed institutes, Institucion Futuro in Spain and the Adriatic Institute, in Croatia. See here and here.

2008-01-28 13:29:08In Eurointelligence: Look Beyond the Quick Fix! In today?s edition of Eurointelligence, I argue that policymakers should stop acting like desperate Keynesians and continue focusing on long-term structural reforms - the only way to achieve long-term economic success:

"Most policymakers in Europe and the United States are now intensely focused on the shakiness of financial markets and the short-term economic prospects. Monetary and fiscal policy measures are, almost desperately, especially in the US, directed towards expansionism and short-term stimulus. It seems that Keynes was wrong in claiming that ′in the long run we′re all dead′, since he himself is revived frequently, seemingly without an end.

In a turbulent situation, it is easy and understandable to focus on the short term, though it did not have to lead to harmful policies. But long-term economic success can only be achieved through a competitive institutional setting, which makes structural reforms to improve the institutions and systems important. And since short-term crises are often caused by harmful institutions, reforms can indeed make those less likely in the future too.

Indeed, the macroeconomic reforms undertaken in most OECD countries during the past decades have led to fewer crises. Independent central banks with a target of price stability and fiscal frameworks have created a much more sound macroeconomic setting. The stagflation of the 1970s is behind us. But this does not mean that the need to reform has disappeared. Every country can always improve, thanks to new knowledge and other countries paving the way."

2008-01-27 11:15:50Obama Landslide. Barrack Obama thus won South Carolina in the Democratic primaries. He received at least twice as many votes as Hillary Clinton. Local newspapers, like this one, writes about how Hillary Clinton was "crushed". This is probably partly due to her showing her true personality as the race has tightened - nagging, irritated, leaning on her hsuband. And the latter point is probably the other main explanation, except for the skills and efforts by Obama himself. Bill Clinton has probably helped Obama a lot by attacking him in a very bad manner. Bill Clinton might even have provided the Republicans with their strongest card yet in the upcoming main race: Do we want the Clinton dynasty to continue? Read more in The Economist.

2008-01-25 14:07:12300 Steps to Liberalise France. The awaited report from the independent economic commission set up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived. It proposes 300 free-market reforms that would boost growth and employment. Will be met with protests and the main test will no doubt be to stand up for the general interest against special interests. But France now has a genuine chance of taking the lead in reforms in Western Europe.

2008-01-22 22:29:47Simpsons - the Movie. I have seen very few films during the past few years. They can almost be counted on one hand. Unfortunately, I have watched almost all of them on long flights. Poor sound and image quality. This might thus affect my judgement.

On a plane from Mexico I finally watched Simpsons - the Movie, a long time after everyone else. So the debate is long over, I guess. Anyway, I was quite disappointed. They didn′t make the change in format, from short episodes to a two-hour film.

But one scene was very funny. Springfield was under threat from the sky and people came out to watch. The people from the church and Moe′s Bar came out at the same time. And when they ran inside of fear, they switched places. The religious needed a drink and vice versa. Probably telling.

2008-01-21 17:46:59Book Event in Copenhagen. On the 8th of February, the Danish think-tank CEPOS hosts a conference about my book. Henning Christophersen, former Danish Finance Minister and EU Commissioner, is the commentator. All is set for a very interesting event! Read more here.

2008-01-20 22:31:34Keynes Resurrected in the US - Temporarily? US President George W Bush again shows that he lacks most conservative economic principles. Now he proposes a large fiscal stimulus package to revive the economic growth rates. Keynes seems to be alive and well in the US right now.

Fortunately, that trend might quite soon start to reverse. Mr Bush has only one year left in office. And now John McCain won the South Carolina primary. No Republican candidate has been able to win without that state since 1980. And he opposes the stimulus package - as he opposed the tax cuts, with the reason that they were not accompanied by spending cuts.

The new Editor-in-Chief of Reason Magazine, Matt Welch, blogs very insightful about the US election at the Reason blog, here.

2008-01-17 15:18:032008 Index of Economic Freedom. A few days ago, this year′s Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage/Wall Street Journal) was released. It is the 14th year, and economic freedom is measured in almost all the world′s countries. The main period of asessment is the second half of 2006 and first half of 2007.

The degree of economic freedom - the possibilities for voluntary economic exchange - is measured in ten categories using a number of variables. The results are clesr. The higher degree of economic freedom, the higher is GDP per capita - and with that follows also a great number of correlations on social issues. Unemployment and poverty is lower in economically freer countries.

During the past year, however, economnic freedom has not increased in the world. During the past decade, it did, but now it has stalled. Partly, this is due to the US actually decreasing its economic freedom, reflecting among other things increased public spending. Europe is on average getting economically freer, due to a number of continuous reforms. The country dropping the most is not surprisingly Venezuela.

Sweden is number 27, being 70,4 per cent free, an increase by 1,4 percentage points. Sweden is very free in several respects, but gets very low scores in fiscal freedom, government spending and labour market. The reforms by the new government might lead to some improvements in the coming years. But more is needed.

Read more about the Index here and a somewhat more extensive comment by me for Timbro about Sweden here.

2008-01-16 11:17:39In Aussenwirtschaft. The Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research - at University of S:t Gallen - has re-published "What Competition Has Done for Europe", which I wrote for European Enterprise Institute. Read more here.

2008-01-15 22:20:28The Latest US Opinion Polls. Right now, people are voting in the Michigan primary. At RealClearPolitics, you will always find the latest summaries of US national opinion polls - and election results. See here.

2008-01-15 18:50:39A Few Things. I just came back to Stockholm from some leisure time in Mexico, more specifically Yucatan - and the places Tulum and Isla Mujeres. Summing up things taking place during my absence, I noticed a few first ones worth mentioning.

- This blog has been chosen one of the 20 best political blogs of Sweden in some web contest. Read more here.

- Dagens Industri, the leading business newspaper in Sweden, devoted its main editorial article to my book "The Guide to Reform" and was very positive (not on the web).

- The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise wrote an article about the same book in their newsletter, read here.

2008-01-10 16:56:48No Clear Leader Emerging. At Isla Mujeres, Mexico, I have not had frequent contact with the Internet. But I have tried to read some Mexican dailies about the primaries in the great country up north from here. No clear leader is emerging on any side. I have to say that if the outcome in the end would be the same as in Iowa, with Obama and Huckabee, I would prefer Obama. But if it were to be like in New Hampshire, I would clearly prefer McCain to Clinton. The voters do indeed seem very uncertain and reluctant.